High-res iPad 3 a go-er for New Year

We’ve been hearing all sorts of rumours from the east about a supposed Retina iPad 3, but – while we certainly expect to see a resolution boost on the next iPad – said rumours are usually ingested with a liberal dose of salt.

However, giving credence to those Retina iPad 3 rumours is – no, not an anonymous source from Taiwan – but DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim.

Shimmers tells CNET that “production has started” on an iPad 3 with a 2048x1536 resolution, with finished devices a possibility as early as December this year, and shipping the following month. Yowsers.

Of course, 2048x1536 doesn’t quite yield the 300 pixels per inch required for Apple’s Retina classification, but it’s a heck of an improvement on the iPad 2’s 1024x768.

Those anonymous sources in the east had previously suggested that there might be manufacturing difficulties in producing such a display. Rhoda Alexander, director of iSuppli, concurs, but adds:

“We know there are yield issues. This is certainly a huge step up as far as pixel format, and every time you do that, there will be yield issues. But this is going forward.”

Yield issues basically means for every x panels manufactured, y go in the bin as a result of dead pixels, luminescence issues and what have you. But this is far from a new phenomenon.

Rhoda explains: “When we look at the iPad 1, when it was first released, the yield issues were down around 50 percent. For every 100 panels made, 50 didn’t make spec. This is not an unusual situation, and this is at the point when the iPad 1 was released.”

Interesting. The first iPad was released in April 2010, with its successor following in March 2011. Put us down for a February 2012 Retina iPad 3 release.